


greener grass, bluer sky

by saunatonttu



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: HQ Summer Holiday Exchange, M/M, Training Camp
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-22
Updated: 2015-06-22
Packaged: 2018-04-05 16:54:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,615
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4187547
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/saunatonttu/pseuds/saunatonttu
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A brief break in the middle of a training camp. </p><p> </p><p>”You're fine, Ennoshita Chikara,” Keiji said, his eyes intent on Ennoshita's face, pressing his palm against Ennoshita's with a calm urgency (a contradiction, but that was Keiji).<br/><i>We're fine.</i></p>
            </blockquote>





	greener grass, bluer sky

**Author's Note:**

  * For [](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts).



> I'm very nervous about whether I did justice on either character, but anyway... I hope you'll enjoy, sungjoon. I was very delighted to have you as my assignment.

The echoes of balls hitting the floor of the gym rang through Keiji's head, and it was with a heavy sigh and a roll of his aching shoulders that he went to find himself some peace for a few moments before their next practice set.

It wore him out, sometimes. Being a captain, holding the newly formed team together, looking into universities while still seriously aiming for nationals.

Despite knowing responsibility from the last year as a vice captain, the weight of all of it was taking its toll on Keiji, who perhaps shouldn't bother with the spring high – but maybe Bokuto-san's enthusiasm and passion had rubbed off on him a little, seeing how Keiji couldn't see himself giving up before the nationals in January.

Keiji inhaled, the summer air wheezing into his lungs, and he was grateful for the medicine for his pollen allergies.

Wiping the remaining droplets of sweat off his brow, Keiji allowed himself to lean against the wall by the side of the gym doors, watching various players go fill up their water bottles in other buildings to save time and patience that waiting at the gym's one incredibly stuffed bathroom would wear out.

There were Karasuno's overenthusiastic third years, the ace and the libero, chattering noisily as they jogged past Keiji.

There were Nekoma's more subdued third years (with the exception of Yamamoto), and Keiji ducked out of the way, contemplating whether to go to fill up his own bottle again despite having done so in the last break.

No, he decided and bent his knees slightly and tilted his head back, sweaty strands of hair meeting the cool gymnasium wall, eyes staring up at the sky and the puffy white clouds adorning the blue canvas.

Taking another deep breath in, Keiji relaxed. A flash of last year flickered past his mind, a memory of the last set of third years and their loss at the national stage, and dull pain in his shoulder that had lasted for too long for comfort.

_This is my last year, as well,_ Keiji thought, half-lidded eyes staring at the shapeless clouds drifting across the sky.

Nostalgia wasn't a defining quality in Akaashi Keiji's being, but even he couldn't remain immune to it in the midst of summer heat and the echoes of lasts (last camp, last prelims ahead, last everything) drummed along to his heartbeat.

The low hum settling into his bones was broken by low chatter from his left, and Keiji glanced in time to see Karasuno's captain ( _Ennoshita-san,_ he thought with a quiet itching to invite him over) with Tsukishima, the poor blond Bokuto-san had been intent on working up last year, both during the training camp and the spring nationals. 

Keiji hummed lightly at the memories, pulling himself up when Ennoshita separated from Tsukishima.

”Not going to fill yours up?” Keiji murmured as he glanced at the other's suspiciously empty hands.

”Did it during the last break,” the fellow third year laughed shortly, sounding as exhausted as Keiji felt after a long morning of holding a team together. ”I just need a bit of a breather.”

Keiji couldn't argue with that – he was doing exactly the same thing, after all. So he bent down on his knees, sitting down and gesturing for Ennoshita to do the same.

”Me too,” Keiji sighed, bring a hand to the side of his neck, head tilting to the opposite direction. A quiet popping crack sounded in the momentary silence between them. Keiji's eyes lingered on the flush green grass as he murmured, ”You have promising first years in your hands again, Ennoshita-san.”

”You can drop the honorific already, Akaashi,” Ennoshita laughed awkwardly, sitting down beside Keiji and pressed his back against the wall. ”And yes,” he admitted with a heavy sigh. ”If only I didn't have my hands full with my classmates as it was, I would be happy.” Ennoshita's mouth twitched as something not-quite self-depreciating shifted on his face.

”Ennoshita,” Akaashi tried, feeling a pleasant tingling in the tips of his toes at the way the name came out.

They had exchanged numbers earlier, before the summer break, so it wasn't a far-fetched thought to assume them friends, even with how little time both of them had between studying and managing their respective teams as captains. Though the truth was a little more than just that, even despite Keiji sticking with formalities until he received a verbal affirmation that it was alright not to.

Keiji's lips curved up the slightest bit as he took a moment to inspect the fellow third year beside him, hands tucked neatly underneath his knees and face smoothing into a relaxed expression neither of them had been wearing much since they stepped up as captains.

”How are your first years holding up?” Ennoshita asked, breaking the silence before it could envelope them, and his serenity was broken by a nervous twitch on his face, a slight shake of his shoulders, as though something was on his mind.

Keiji blinked, slowly, a hint of fondness blooming in his chest.

( _Fondness?_ Bokuto's voice questioned, as it often did when Keiji wondered what his former captain would say.  _Learn to talk like a real teenager, Akaashi!_ )

But there was not much else he could call the feeling, honestly, and so he didn't bother trying to find new slang to express it.

”They're...” Keiji searched for the right words, laughing quietly at himself when he failed. ”...holding up. Some of them are bent on becoming regulars, and it creates a good kind of rivalry between the second and the first years.”

Ennoshita looked at him with a smile of his own, understanding what lay behind Keiji's presumably unreadable expression. ”That's good,” he said, serene as he lay his hand down, palm up and open next to Keiji's knees.

Keiji didn't hesitate to grasp it with his own, entwining their fingers as they quietly shifted their conversation into a different area, their smiles relaxing and shoulders trembling with mirth.

 

 

”Any plans for the future?” Keiji asked, once the fading adrenaline rush from the practice matches faded completely, his fingers holding onto Ennoshita's gently. ”You plan on sticking with the team until spring nationals?”

Keiji found some solace in the easy relationship with Ennoshita, even if he couldn't quite pinpoint where exactly his feelings for the fellow captain lay just yet after a couple of phone dates and an attempted real life one that had failed for many reasons neither had power over. (Trains running late, the movies unbearably loud for Keiji's ears, the rain.)

”Yes,” Ennoshita said slowly, his brows knitting together in mild confusion – some amusement mixed in, Keiji noted. ”I suppose so. I haven't quite made the final decision about the next captain, so sticking with them is for the best until the nationals, if we get that far this time.”

He fell silent, teeth nibbling at the skin of his lower lip as he mulled over his words under Keiji's steady, patient eyes. Keiji smiled at Ennoshita's profile, at the slightly askew nose that broke during an earlier day at the camp, at the self-depreciating curve of his mouth that gave away Ennoshita's thoughts.

”You have talent in your hands,” Keiji said quietly, ”so you have at least a good chance.” University or nationals wise, he wanted to add but Keiji was sure that was unnecessary. Sometimes the unsaid was just as audible as the said.

”It's hard,” Ennoshita admitted, shoulders slumping and fingers tight around Keiji's. ”...Sometimes, at least,” he added with a sigh, eyes trailing to the returning players of his team, skin paling as Tanaka and Nishinoya raced towards the gym with loud shrieks of what Keiji assumed to be summer heat-induced dizziness.

The break would end soon, and Ennoshita and Keiji would end up on the opposite sides of the net once more to yell out shouts of _one touch_ and _nice receive_ among others. They'd get new shades of purple on their knees and arms, possibly somewhere else as well, and they'd sweat until their skin glistened from the effort.

It was what both of them were prepared for, what both wanted for their teams, but at the same time a little moment of privacy here and there was not so bad, since they couldn't afford to see each other on even a weekly basis.

Keiji was alright with working it out, with planning the future visits carefully (like he did with his team, the game plays, the formations), with waiting for a time where the distance wouldn't be an issue.

And regardless of all that, volleyball was the number one for both of them, whether they acknowledged it as fiercely as their former captains had or not.

”You're fine, Ennoshita Chikara,” Keiji said, his eyes intent on Ennoshita's face, pressing his palm against Ennoshita's with a calm urgency (a contradiction, but that was Keiji).

_We're fine._

Ennoshita looked startled, then with eyes wider than before as they scrutinized Keiji's face and mild expression. Soon, the lines around his face eased as he smiled, eyes crinkling to accommodate the rising of his mouth.

He looked very boyish right then, and Keiji felt a fidgeting feeling inside him, in the pit of his stomach.

That, too, was normal. 

”Let's go back,” Ennoshita said, smile on his mouth and in his eyes as he helped both of them up, legs staggering with the effort, Keiji offering support in return. 

The rest of the day went as expected with volleyball and small breaks in-between, with heads burying into thick towels at the end of the day, and with softer whispers of _sleep well, Akaashi_ and _sweet dreams, Ennoshita-san._

 

 


End file.
